Georgia Moves Closer to Classes Based on Bible
As an Atheist you might think that I would be apposed to teaching the bible in a public school but the more I thought about this the more I like the concept because it is finally calling the bible what it is...an interesting influential piece of literature.
The bible is a piece of popular literature that happened to start a cult of followers. If we need a modern day example we can look no further then the phenomenon surrounding Star Trek and its die hard Trekkie's. Church is a trekkie convention for people who follow the bible. Yes I also believe they are both as silly.
Also, one would hope that studying the bible in a scholarly manner would also open it up for debate and cause people who study it seriously to see how riddled it is with inconsistency. How it has been openly edited for centuries..far from the divine hand of god. Hopefully they can also study the context of how it arises and the influence of the church on its creation.
Any serious study of the bible only helps the Atheist cause. Although, I am afraid that in Georgia there will be anything but serious study.
3 comments:
"...an interesting influential piece of literature."
---- But it is also a piece of literature that dicriminates, spreads hate, mysogony etc...
"...would also open it up for debate and cause people who study it seriously..."
---As you also note, I highly doubt that these classes will be a scholarly critical review of the Bible.
This only brings this country one step closer to a religious war. If Georgia starts doing this, than Dearborn Michigan (the largest muslim population in the US resides there) can start adding the Koran to thier school cirriculum etc...
Maybe if they created a "Mythology" class, then maybe we could allow it.
One of the classes I took in college studied each of the major religions. We learned that to know one religion (like many people do) is to know none since you have nothing to compare it to. I didn't become an adherent of any particular faith, but it was cool to learn about the origins of Judaism, Buddhism, Christianity, Taoism, and Islam. The teacher brought a Muslim in to speak about his religion one morning. He was asked by a bright young woman why Islam's main symbol had a sword in it when it was supposedly a "peaceful" religion. He couldn't really give a satisfactory answer to her. Most of the people in the class were agnostic or taking a break from their faith because they were in college. I was quite captivated by some of the beliefs of Buddhism and Taoism and still am. One reason for this is that they respect other beliefs unlike, say, Christianity or Islam.
Hey thomas, I agree "Western Buddhism" is one of my favorites as it focuses on ones own inward journey rather using fear and shame to control behavior.
Post a Comment